AIDS and The Nervous System: A Focus On The AIDS Dementia Complex :: AIDS Disease Diseases Essays

help and The flyaway System A Focus On The AIDS dementia mazy Infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (human immunodeficiency virus), the biologic agent of the AIDS syndrome, has emerged as one of the most important threats to public health in the United States and its incidence is rapidly increasing. A highly lethal sickness with over 70% of AIDS patients dying within 2 age of diagnosis. This disease has already become the leading cause of death in men aged 25-44 and women aged 25-34. The Centers for Disease Control have for the solve of epidemiological surveillance, defined AIDS as a reliably diagnosed disease that is at least moderately indicative of an underlying cellular immunodeficiency in a person who has no underlying cause of cellular immunodeficiency nor whatever other cause of reduced resistance describe to be associated with that disease. 5 The pathophysiology of human immunodeficiency virus is indicative of a retrovirus. At the cellular level the most exp licit feature of AIDS is the depletion of the helper-inducer lymphocytes or T-helper cells. The specific antigen CD4 present on these lymphocytes appears to be the target of the AIDS retrovirus. HIV does non usually cause disease as soon as it is acquired and at that placefore in most cases, has a latency period which may be variable. The ultimate problem in this disease is the advanced immunosuppresslon due to the lack of lymphocytes. The anxious(p) system is an earliest and obvious site of disease in AIDS In addendum to the opportunistic infections that the defect in cell mediated immunity allows, there is neurologic damage directly attributable to the AIDS virus. Dysfunctions of practically all parts of the nervous system have been reported as a direct or indirect result of HIV infection 3. The human immunodeficiency virus directly attacks cells in the nervous system, although it does not cause morphologic injuries to the neurons. It causes disabling, but not necessarily i rreversible changes to the ace and spinal cord. The most common manifestation of this virus is a progressive dementia associated with subacute encephalopathy which is a part of the AIDS Dementia Complex. Spinal cord, cranial nerve, and peripheral nerve damage also overstep but at a much lower frequency and be less likely to command the overall course or the disease. As more is learned about HIV infection, the effect on the nervous system becomes more apparent. Estimates on the Prevalence of neurologic consequences of AIDS escape from 31-65% in adults and 50-90% in children5.